Automobile body closure hinge



Dec, 25, 1962 o, c, GESSLER 3,069,720

AUTOMOBILE BODY CLOSURE HINGE Filed 001;. 3, 1960 '/0 F7 1 4 5 g 54 3240 J25 62 X 96 60 52 INVENTOR.

United States Patent shew/2e AUliIrP/EGBELE lltlDY Qi-GSURE HINGE UttoC. Gcssler. 8592 Archdale Sh, Detroit 23, Mich. Filed Get. 3, 19m. Set.No. 60,155 4 Claims. (Cl. Id -428.1)

This invention relates to automobile body hardware and, in particular,to automobile body closure hinges.

One object of this invention is to provide an automobile body closurehinge which is adapted to be mounted in pairs on the side walls of thetrunk or engine compartment of an automobile to hingedly support and tocounterbalance the weight of the front or rear deck lid in such a waythat the hin e fits compactly against the side walls so as to provide asmuch unobstructed compartment space as possible and to prevent suchinterference between the hinge and the contents of the compartment aswould cause damage to the said contents or obstruct the operation of thehinge.

Another object is to provide an automobile body closure hinge of theforegoing character wherein the convolutions of counterbalancing torsionspring are prevented from displacement either axially or radially withinthe hinge mechanism so that a true application of torque results duringoperation.

Another object is to provide an automobile body closure hinge which issimple to manufacture and consists of few parts, in one instanceconsisting of only two stampings, one rivet and the torsion spring.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparentduring the course of the following description of the accompanyingdrawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of an automobile body closure hinge,according to one form of the invention, as mounted on the bulkheadbetween the trunk or engine compartment and the fender space forhingedly supporting one corner of the compartment lid;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary vertical section taken along the line 2-2 inFEGURE 1, looking rearwardly; and

FlGURE 3 is a side elevation, partly in section, of a modification ofthe hinge shown in FIGURE 1.

Referring to the drawings in detail, FIGURES 1 and 2 show an automobilebody hinge, generally designated 10, as consisting generally of amounting plate 12, a pivoted spring-retaining lever structure 34, apivot pin 16 pivotally supporting the spring-retaining lever structurelsupon the mounting plate 12, and a weight-counterhalancing torsionspring 18. The spring-retaining lever structure 14 includes a perforatedcup portion 2 3 with a cylindrical periphery 22, an arcuate retainingflange 24 at one end of the cylindrical periphery 22, a bent hinge leverarm 25 extending from the flange 24 and a lid-mounting end flange 23terminating the hinge lever arm 26.

The torsion spring it? is coiled loosely around the cylindrical portion22 of the spring-retaining lever structure and has one end 3t hookedagainst one end of the flange 24 and the other end 32 hooked into a hole34 in the mounting plate 12. The perforated cup portion Zil is receivedagainst the interior surface of a. cupped recess 36 of the mountingplate 12 within which portion is a smaller perforated cupped projection38 which re ceives the enlarged rearward end portion of the pivot pin16. The mounting plate 12, for convenience, is preferably stamped fromflat sheet metal and includes a stop portion as extending from the edgethereof and intercepting the top edge 52 of the hinge lever arm portion26 during the swinging motion thereof.

The mounting plate 32 is bolted, welded or otherwise secured to thebulkhead 44 (FIGURE 2) separating the trunk compartment 46 from thespace 48 beneath Patented Dec. 225, 1352 the fender 50 which covers thewheel (not shown). The fender 5G and the fixed rear deck portion 54(FIGURE 1) terminate in a drip channel portion 5s which receives thedownturned edge portion 58 of the upper panel fill of the trunk lid,generally designated 62, against the resilient sealing gasket 64. Spacedapart from the upper trunk lid panel 6i? is a lower trunk lid panel 66which is secured by bolts 68 to the end flange 28 upon the lever armportion 26.

In the assembly of the hinge ll) of the present invention, the torsionspring 18 is placed in the recessed portion 36 of the mounting plate 12and its end 32 is hooked into the hole 34. The spring-retaining leverstructure 14 is then moved into position and the other end 30 of thetorsion spring 18 is hooked against one end of the arcuate retainingflange 24. A temporary elongated pivot pin (not shown) is inserted inthe position to be later occupied by the permanent pivot pin 16. Thespring retained lever structure 14 is then rotated in a clockwisedirection relative to the plate 12 (FIGURE 1) to apply tension to thetorsion spring 18. During this process, the structure 14 is pulledoutward from the plate 12 along the axis of the temporary pivot pin topass clear of the stop portion 40 and then is pushed back against themounting plate 12.

The spring-retaining lever structure is is now restrained againstfurther motion relative to the plate 12, both along the axis of thetemporary pivot pin wherein a suitable clamp or fixture (not shown)provides such restraint, and in a rotational manner wherein the stopportion as prevents unwinding of the lever structure 14 and spring 18.The temporary pivot pin is now withdrawn and replace by the permanentpivot pin is, and the clamp or fixture is removed,

In the installation of the hinge ill in an automobile body, the mountingplate 12 is welded, bolted, or otherwise attached to the bulkhead 44 inits desired position. The lid mounting end flange 28 of the leverstructure 14 is then bolted or otherwise secured at 68 to the lid 62.

In the operation of the invention, when the operator pulls downward andsecures the lid 62 in its closed position, the spring-retaining leverstructure 14 swings in a clockwise direction around its pivot pin l6(FIGURE 1) so as to follow the motion of the lid 62. As this occurs, theretaining flange 24 in rotating pulls with it the end portion fall ofthe torsion spring 18, thereby circumferentially applying andmaintaining tension in the torsion spring 18. When the operator releasesthe lid 62 from its closed position, the torsion spring 13 unwinds so asto resume its original condition wherein the stop portion 40 preventsfurther unwinding. The released tension of the torsion spring 18 appliedby the end 36 thereof against the retaining flange swings thespring-retaining lever structure 14 and the lid 62 in a counterclockwisedirection. Accordingly, the tension applied to the torsion spring 18 notonly counterbalances the weight of the lid 62 but raises the lid 62sufliciently for the operator to grasp the other end thereof and raiseit to its fully open position. The retaining flange 2d and thecylindrical periphery 22 of the cup portion Ell, together with theadjoining cupped recess as of the mounting plate 12, restrain theconvolutions of the torsion spring l8 from either radial or axialdisplacement. At the same time, the spring-retaining lever structure 14serves also to shield objects in the trunk compartment 46 from catchingin the convolutions of the torsion spring Zll.

The modified hinge, generally designated 89, shown in FlGURE 3, is welladapted for pivotally supporting the lids of automobile engine or trunkcompartments having insufiicient surface on their side bulkheads forestablishing the pivotal hinge support beneath the fixed deck portion ofthe compartment. The automobile body hinge 80 consists generally of amounting plate 82, a spring-retaining lever structure 84, a pivot pin 86pivotally securing the lever structure 84 to the plate 82, and a torsionspring 88. The mounting plate has a cupshaped recess 9% against which isdisposed a cup-shaped portion 92 of the lever structure 84. The torsionspring 83 is coiled loosely around the cup-shaped portion 92 and hasconvolutions proceeding in counterclockwise direction (FIGURE 3) fromits end $4 hooked into the mounting plate 82 to its end 96 hooked intothe cupshaped portion 92.

The spring-retaining lever structure 84 has, in addition to thecup-shaped portion 92, an annular retaining flange 93 thereupon and ahinge lever arm portion ldtl extending approximately upward (FIGURE 3)from the flange 98 and terminating in a lid mounting end flange 102. Thelid-mounting end flange 102 is secured by bolts 104 to the compartmentlid, generally designated 106. The lid 1% terminates in a channelportion 193 which meets a resilient sealing gasket 11% attached to theunder side of the downturned edge 112 of the fixed rear deck, generallydesignated 114. A stop portion 116 of the mounting plate 82 interceptsthe path of the hinge lever arm 100.

The assembly and operation of the modified hinge fill closely resemblesthose of the hinge 10 except that as the operator releases the lid fromits closed position and the torsion spring 38 raises the lid 106 bymeans of the spring-retaining lever structure 24, the right-hand end(FIGURE 3) of the lid 106, including the channel por tion 108, movesdownward and to the right in a rotary While FIGURE 2 of the drawingshows the mounting plate 12 welded to and against a bulkhead or wall 44,it will be evident that the mounting plate 12 may with equal conveniencebe welded at its upper and lower edges in a conventional manner to therear deck and top wall of the wheel housing respectively. In such aninstallation, the mounting plate 12 is conveniently made flat, as in thecase of the mounting plate 32 in FIGURE 3, with the bottom wall of thecup portion 20 flat against the flat mounting plate 12 without the needfor the cupped projection 38 for the pivot pin 16. In such an arrange- 4ment, the other end 32 of the torsion spring 13 is hooked sidewise intothe hole 34 in the flat mounting plate 12. The location of the welds inthe mounting plate 12 obviously depends upon the particular installationand the convenience of attachment of the mounting plate to theparticular body structure available. The end 30 of the spring 18 is, asbefore, hooked to the cup portion 20.

What I claim is:

1. An automobile body closure hinge adapted to support the lid of anautomobile body compartment and comprising a mounting plate adapted tobe secured to a vertical panel of an automobile body compartment, apivot element secured to said mounting plate, a springretaining andsupporting cup pivotally mounted upon said pivot element and having anapproximately cylindrical peripheral portion with a spring-retainingedge flange thereon, a hinge lever arm portion extending from said edgeflange and having a lid-mounting portion thereon, and a helical torsionspring encircling said cylindrical peripheral portion in contactingengagement therewith and in abutting engagement with said edge flange,said spring being anchored at one end to said mounting plate andconnected at its other end tosaid spring-retaining cup.

2. An automobile body closure hinge, according to claim 1, wherein saidmounting plate has a cupped recess and wherein said pivot element, saidspring retaining cup and said torsion spring are disposed at leastpartially in said recess.

3. An automobile body closure hinge, according to claim 1, wherein saidlid-mounting portion in the closed position of the hinge is disposedremote from said pivot element in an approximately horizontal direction.

4. An automobile body closure hinge, according to claim 1, wherein saidlid-mounting portion in the closed position of the hinge is disposedapproximately above said pivot element.

Ludwig May 14, 1940 Morvice July 10, 1951

